"The strong report for June led some analysts and investors to wonder if the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates sooner than expected. The odds of a rate increase at the Fed's June 2015 meeting were 57% after the report, up from 51% a day earlier, according to data from CME Group. A month ago, the odds were 43%. Meanwhile, the yield on the U.S. Treasury 10-year note ticked up to 2.65% from 2.626% on Wednesday.

"But for now, stock investors don't see higher interest rates as an immediate worry, given that inflation pressure is still low.

"Instead the evidence of an improved labor market was seen as supporting the run higher in stocks this year."

The S&P ended almost 11 points higher, going further into uncharted territory.